I'd bet he ordered replacement ones from Little Machine Shop when the plastic ones chunked. I REALLY like the belt conversion setup, I bought mine off ebay, forget what I paid for it. Was easy to install. Still have to change the belt on the pulleys to change from high to low. I buy belts from Beidler's Belts. they run me like $3 a piece, generally keep five or six on hand as they don't last long when using it pretty much every day.